Licensed premises authorising regulated entertainment decreases, new figures show

The figures show there were 117,800 premises licences authorising regulated entertainment in force in England and Wales on 31 March 2013, compared to 120,800 on 31 March 2012.

Licences covering boxing and wrestling (7.9%), plays (2.6%), and indoor sporting events (1.6%) all increased, while there were decreases in the number of premises authorising live music (-0.5%), recorded music (-0.2%) and the performance of dance (-0.1%).

Between March 2008 and March 2012, there had been a slight but steady increase in the overall number of premises licenced for regulated entertainment.

The report, titled Entertainment Licensing Statistics 2013​, states that the recent decrease in premises licences for live music may be attributed to the Live Music Act 2012, which partially removed the need for licences.

Club premises certificates​

Premises licences accounted for the majority (90.8%) of the total number of licences in force which authorised regulated entertainment. Club premises certificates also accounted for a small proportion (9.2%), although the number of these has been gradually decreasing since 2008, and dropped by 5.7% to 11,900 certificates in the past year.

The biggest percentage decrease in club premises certificates was for recorded music and performance of dance (-4.2% each), while the only entertainment type for which the certificates increased was plays (2%) and entertainment similar to live music, recorded music or dance (1.8%).

The DCMS said it collated the statistics to monitor the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 and inform deregulation proposals regarding the forms of entertainment which may require licences in the future. It noted that the figures only shows which premises or clubs are authorised for a certain type of regulated entertainment, not necessarily those that provide it.

Of the 350 licensing authorities, 346 (98.9%) responded to the questionnaire.